i'll never let them hurt you • petekey

nine

The air is knocked from my lungs as we hit the floor. I cry out, one hand around it's neck and the other up by it's eyes, trying to keep it's snapping jaws from tearing into my face. My vision flashes red, blurring around the edges, plunging me into survival mode.

I get my foot beneath it's belly, kicking hard at the same time my arms push forward. I shove the creature onto it's back, and barely have time to stand again before it's upright and leaping at me, it's jaw unhinged and ready. At the very last second, I dash to the side, sending the creature against the wall. It whines, standing back up and shaking out it's head. The eyes, his eyes, glare at me. They're Pete's eyes, they're the same eyes as my puppy. I love his eyes. They're so pretty, I love how dark they look when he's got a smudged line of eyeliner around his eyelashes. When a patch of sunlight hits Pete's soft brown irises, it makes them appear golden.

The sunlight...

"When do you turn back?" I ask, sitting criss cross in front of the open cage door. I'm holding the key that locks it.

"Sunrise." He answers.

He's been inside, away from the sun, ever since last night. The moon shines through the small windows in our basement, but if he got out before the sun rose, there wouldn't be any sunlight. The curtains are drawn most of the time. Just because I don't hiss and cover my face in the light doesn't mean I like it.

I need to get him out into the daylight.

We rush forward at the same time, and collide in a mess of teeth and claws. It stands on it's hind legs, appearing even more human in the most sickening way.

It slams me against the wall, my head making a dull thud as it hits. My hand reaches out and I grab it's ankle, yanking it out from under it. The creature crashes down, landing on all fours. It growls loudly, pouncing onto my chest. I hear a sharp cracking sound but ignore it, instead looking towards the exposed forelimb in front of me.

My teeth sink into it's arm. The pained scream makes my eyes fill with tears, but I keep my fangs locked in for a few more moments before letting go. Catching the werewolf off gaurd, I hook my arms around it and stand up, his back to my chest. With my arms around the it's middle, I start dragging it towards the door.

It's claws rip into my wrists, exposing bones and empty veins. I scream hoarsely, grinding my teeth together so hard they could crack. My arms are trembling from the effort of keeping it from escaping. I give the door one hard kick and it slams open. With one final cry, I heave it onto the grass, into the sun. It howls, the sound soon dying out into a pained shriek. It writhes, bending and twisting, shaking and twitching. I fall to my knees, letting out a relieved breath. The sunlight worked. My relief morphes into fascination as I watch his claws retract, his fur turn into skin, his snout shrink back into a human nose and mouth.

I look down at my arms. The skin is hanging off in shreds, every bone and tendon and vein showing obscenely. When I lift up my shirt, a dark bruise is already forming around my rib. I tenderly press down on the skin, letting out a sharp gasp.

"Fuck..." I mumble. As I'm still examining my purple and blue skin, I hear a weak voice.

"M-Mikey..."

I quickly look up. Pete is laying on his side, eyes closed, chest heaving.

"Puppy, oh, thank fuck." I sigh, letting go of the hem of my shirt and standing up. I can hardly stay upright, my legs are shaking, but I stumble over to him and kneel. "You're okay." I nod, swaying feebly as black spots dance across my vision. I take in a trembling breathe, and then the world goes dark as I collapse.

- - - - -

"Mikey, wake up. Please wake up." A broken voice mutters. I feel a hand in my hair, softly brushing it out of my face. I slowly open my eyes.

Pete's concerned face is the first thing I see, his wide eyes and creased eyebrows. "Mikey, I thought you died" He whimpers.

"I'm already dead, remember?" I croak, my voice weak and gravelly.

He laughs, the sound laced with a sob, a smile accompanied by tears in his eyes. Pete runs his fingers through my hair. He's the only one I ever let touch my hair, especially after it's straightened. That was a fantastic invention; the hair straightener.

"How long was I out?"

"Ten minutes or so. You- you passed out right as I woke up, I brought you in here. You weren't moving, a-and you don't have a heartbeat, I couldn't tell, I- I didn't know-"

"I'm alright, pup. Everything is okay. Just take a breath."

Pete's face floods with guilt.

"Your... your arms."

I look down.

"That's not your fault."

"Not my fault? Mikey, I did that. I hurt you, I ripped apart your arms."

"That was not you. The thing that I saw today was not you. You did not hurt me, you didn't have control." I sit up slowly, wincing at the pressure on my ribs. My head is pounding.

"It was still me. I was in there, somewhere, hurting you."

"Pete, please." I spit harshly. "It wasn't you. You couldn't help it. And besides, this isn't even that bad."

"I'm sorry. I know that doesn't fix it, I don't know what to say or do, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

I look up him. "You could go get me some blood."

Pete nods and stands up. "Y-Yeah, of course."

"And maybe put some clothes on." I chuckle softly, immediately regretting it once a stabbing pain goes through my ribcage. "I mean, you know I love seeing you naked, but you must be freezing."

The werewolf goes red and looks down. "I didn't even notice."

"There's a lot going on, I get it." I nod with a slight smile.

Once Pete has some clothes on, he brings me a blood bag.

"Watch this, dear." I twist the small cap off, where the collection and deposit tube usually goes, and take a long sip. Moments later, the mangled skin on both my arms begins to heal, the ribbons becoming whole again. The terrible ache slowly fades from my skull and my ribs. "I told you it wasn't that bad."

His eyes are wide. Pete grabs my arm and turns it over and back again, running his hand over the skin.

"There's no scar..."

"No, there's no scar. See? I'm okay, my sweet boy. I promise."

"Promise?" He looks up with those big, brown eyes, the puppy dog eyes that I always fall for.

"I promise."